“It was a rather successful match, despite the second set. Is it a relief to have won it?
I’m very happy ! It’s happiness, really. Afterwards, I wouldn’t say a relief, because I really don’t expect anything. I want to have as much fun as possible and I’m happy with what happened today (Thursday). I corrected what was wrong between the second and the third set, so it’s a real satisfaction. The court was even smaller than yesterday, but there were a lot of French people, it was like a little cauldron, I really loved the atmosphere!
“We are super accomplices and on a daily basis we laugh almost all day, but we are serious about work and we do things well”
On his relationship with Jérémy Chardy, his new coach
What is your relationship with Jérémy Chardy, your new coach?
We are super accomplices and on a daily basis we laugh almost all day, but we are serious about work and we do things well. I had a somewhat complicated year, with the vaccine, the Covid and the injuries, but with him I really see things differently and things are going really well. He’s my coach and my friend.
So, we found the Ugo Humbert of the best years?
(Laughs) I’m just happy to be here. I got my tennis back, I have good things that are falling into place, I have a good state of mind, things are going really well with my team so I’m just happy. It’s a bonus. I had a complicated sequence. It took me a long time to accept my new status. I had gone up quickly, I was 25th and then, when I came down to 160th, I had to work to accept it. But I really didn’t take any pleasure, I couldn’t train anymore and then, since Jérémy arrived, it’s totally different. »
